


Broken Glass

by AlastorGrim



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Angst, Dib is pissed, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Foursome, GIR being GIR, Good BDSM Etiquette, How To Raise Your Smeet 101, Hurt/Comfort, Interfering Tallest, Language Kink, Multi, Oviposition, PRaZDR, Polyfam, Praise Kink, Prazadr, Professor Membrane Is An Asshole, Smeets (Invader Zim), Subdrop, Trans Dib Membrane, Zim Has A Smeet, domestic abuse, help them, love bug au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-01-21 12:55:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21299807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlastorGrim/pseuds/AlastorGrim
Summary: Dib meets Zim's smeet, and decides that babysitting should prove a good enough excuse to get the hell out of the house for a while. Only, given that it is the first smeet to have been born outside of Irk in eons, it calls the attention of the Almighty Tallest. They take an extended leave from the Massive to come help figure out what to do with it. Dib isnothappy.
Relationships: Almighty Tallest Purple/Almighty Tallest Red, Dib/The Almighty Tallest/Zim, Dib/Zim (Invader Zim), The Almighty Tallest/Dib, The Almighty Tallest/Zim
Comments: 34
Kudos: 320





	1. Poisoned With Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Neon Hitch

It was snowing, the sky dark and gray as fat flakes of ashy, polluted ice drifted down to the city streets below. Dib leaned against the cold bricks of some random shop, his cheek cut and swollen purple beneath the rim of his glasses. He cupped one hand over the cigarette in his mouth, and tried to flick the roller of his lighter with the other. His thumb, frozen and turning blue, numbly fumbled the lighter. After a few more tries, Dib cursed beneath his breath and put it away, reaching for his back pocket where he kept his matches.

People passing gave him off looks, but he couldn't care less. He'd wandered far enough that the chances of meeting someone he knew like this was few and far between. Dib knew he wouldn't be going to school tomorrow either, not with his face split open. The Prof. would make sure he'd made the bruise invisible before he was allowed back anywhere near the school.

Striking the match across the bricks at his back, Dib took a moment to relish the heat of the small flame against his stiff fingers before bringing it up to the end of his cigarette. He waved it out, tossed it to the sidewalk, and ground it into the snow with his boot. He puffed in a breath, closed his eyes, and held the burn of nicotine in his lungs until it turned unbearable.

"Dib-bee?"

Dib's eyes shot open as he let out a cloud of smoke, a hazy figure barely visible through it. Annoyed, he waved it away to see Zim standing just outside the door of the shop Dib was next to. His arms were laden with plastic bags, colorful, fluffy things peeking out of the tops. 

Raising an eyebrow, Dib pinched his cigarette and held it lazily away from his face. "Space boy. 'Hell you want?"

Zim's horrible little disguise didn't seem very warm, but he didn't look cold at all. In fact, he seemed flushed. Dib took a moment to wonder about the possibility of Irkens being hot blooded, and whether that would make them more or less reptilian, before he squashed it.

Zim's eyes brightened and bounded over to Dib, near vibrating in excitement. "Oh, I was just getting some stuff for--" He cut himself off when he came within a foot of Dib, stopping abruptly. His smile dropped and he made a sound of distress. "Dib-bee, your face!"

Dib snorted and took another, jerky pull of his cigarette. He turned, vindictive, and blew smoke into Zim's face. As the alien devolved into a bout of coughing, Dib sneered. "What about it?"

"You're--ugh--you're hurt," Zim wheezed worriedly as he batted at the wisps of gray around him. "And your lips are turning blue."

"So?"

"_So_," Zim began strongly as he side stepped another huff of cloudy poison. "You're going to get sick! Here, I have a blanket in here somewhere--why don't I walk home with you?" He mused as he rummaged around in the metal hull on his back until he was able to wrench out a square of purple fabric. He thrust it at Dib proudly, expectant.

Dib took it, rubbing it in between his fingers with raised eyebrows. It was stupidly soft. "I'm not going home."

Zim's hopeful expression faltered. "W-What? Why not?"

Growing irritated, Dib took one more puff of his cigarette, then put it out on the folded fabric in his hand, even though he'd only smoked half of it. "Because I don't fucking want to. Now buzz off, bug boy."

Spluttering when Dib tossed the blanket back in his face, Zim tugged it down off his head and wrung it frantically within his hands. "But it's cold! You cannot stay outside!"

"I'm not going home," Dib snapped, anger bubbling up like oil in his chest. His fingers twitched, the urge to _hurt_ seeping deep into his bones. He glanced back at Zim, ready spit vitriol or maybe just crack him in the face, only to falter.

Zim's eyes were watery, the sky blue irises of his contacts dilated and shaky. But he still had an odd, crooked smile on his face. Dib had seen Zim get upset before, of course--he often liked to be the reason for it--but after the last time...

_"I got you a present, Dib-bee!"_

_"Great. I'm sure I'll hate it."_

_"B-But, you said you wanted it."_

_"What?"_

_"Open it!"_

_..._

_"Oh. Oh **God**. What the fuck--is this your--"_

_"One of my antennae! L-Like you asked! It hurt, but it was w-worth it, for you, Dib-bee!"_

Dib's hands unclenched and the anger in his chest went cold. He felt sick, vexed. He shook his head and turned to walk away again, wanting to get as far away from Zim as possible.

"Wait! You can come home with me!"

Dib paused. His head tipped, curious, and he spun on heel to face Zim. His face was blank, and he saw Zim falter at it. He stepped forward, slowly, and Zim swallowed.

"You want me to come home with you?" Dib repeated softly. "You want me, a human with _very_ bad intentions, in your base, where you keep all your alien tech."

"Y...Yes. Yes I do," Zim answered, gaining confidence as he spoke. Puffing out his cheeks and lifting his chin to meet Dib's eye, his smile growing less strained and broadening into something bright and hopeful. "I want Dib-bee to come home with me, so I can help him." He reaffirmed, determined.

The menacing aura Dib was attempting to pull off crumbled as he rolled his eyes. He took another moment to consider, before swearing under his breath. "Of course you do," Dib growled. He yanked one armful of bags out of Zim's hands and strung them over his wrist. "Whatever." When Zim just blinked owlishly up at him, Dib scowled. "Well? Lead the way. It's fucking freezing."

"Oh--OH! Right. Follow me," Zim chirped, expression brightening as he trotted hastily ahead, checking over his shoulder every once in a while to make sure Dib was still following.

The walk back to Zim's base was silent on Dib's end, but Zim hummed cheerfully, steps jaunty as they slogged through the snow slick streets towards the culdesac. Dib was starting to regret stubbing out his cigarette.

The garishly pink two story stood out amidst the gray and burgundy buildings around it, with not a speck of snow anywhere on it. Dib squinted at the roof and saw the snow melting a few inches before it landed, slicking off the tiles and into the floral buckets hung up at the end of the gutters. When one filled up, it sunk to the ground, tipped out onto the flower bed against the house, then rose back up. 

Dib hated all of it.

Zim skipped up to the door, pushed it open, then stood aside for Dib to go first. He paused just before the door, glancing at the yard.

"Why penguins?" He muttered, brow furrowed as he surveyed the plastic penguins and porcelain woodland animals scattered across the too green grass.

"I like the way they walk," Zim chirped. 

"That's stupid," Dib mumbled as he stalked past Zim and into the base. He was immediately blasted with warm air, and every one of his muscles involuntarily relaxed at once. He slumped against the wall just inside, hissing as blood began to flood back to his fingertips and face. His cheek, which had gone numb, throbbed hotly and pinched his nerves in a dull burn, probably seconds away from infection.

The bags that Dib had hung over his arm fell to the floor, and his pin-needled hand was grasped by a much smaller one. 

"Come sit down, Dib-bee, you're like ice. Zim needs to look at your face." 

Zim tugged him to the couch and gently pushed at him until he sat down. Dib flopped down onto it with a grunt, then looked around with restrained interest as Zim bounced off to go do whatever. The walls were a pastel shade of teal, the couch opolstered in faded white and red roses. There was a big painting of a purple monkey making a winky face with its tongue sticking out hung up above the couch. Higher up, there was a tangle of bright silver pipes and wires that made up the ceiling and ran down the opposite wall to connect to the large TV there. 

"GIR, can you bring up the antiseptic please? Thank you," He heard Zim murmur from what Dib assumed was the kitchen. He appeared a moment later, a white and pink box in his hands.

It occured to Dib then that, should he be inclined, Zim could very easily kill him right then. Here he was, in Zim's base, boneless with heat and aching with chill, no weapons, no way to call for help, and right smack in the middle of enemy territory. And, perhaps not so surprisingly, Dib couldn't find it in himself to give a shit. 

'_Fuck it,_' Dib thought, jaw clenched as he stared resolutely up at the ceiling. '_I guess I'll die. Let the world burn down without me._'

There was a click of plastic, some shuffling, and then a hand on his cheek. Dib flinched on instinct, snarling when Zim didn't back off immediately. The hand on his face was warm and gentle. He didn't like it.

"Dib-bee, I need your face."

"Said Leatherface, before plunging a chainsaw into his victims," Dib grumbled as he cocked his head up just slightly, enough that Zim could see it, but not enough for him to reach without stretching.

_He won't do you no harm. He's a sweet boy._

Gaz still had nightmares about that movie and absolutely refused to let him forget it. He was the one who forced her to watch it, after all. Now, he found it oddly relevant. A prickle of spiteful unease plucked up the nocks of his spine.

But Zim just clambered up onto the couch, cotton balls and gauze in his hands, and stood on the arm of the couch to reach Dib's cheeks. "I love you too much to put chaining saws in you. That sounds awful."

Very reassuring. 

There was a bang, and then the little robot of Zim's was tottering into the living room, a bottle in it's nubby little arms. "I brought the stuff!"

It promptly tripped and fell on its face, sending the bottle flying. Zim had turned just in time for it to clock him in the eye, and he yelped and fumbled for it one handed as he squinted his eye shut. "Oh, t-thank you, GIR. Will you go check on Biz, please? And take the bags down when you go."

"Okie dokie!"

Dib snickered, but quieted back down when he heard Zim mention something called Biz. "What's that? A doomsday device?"

Zim looked almost affronted, if not for the simper that escaped his lips. "Goodness no! Why would I have something like that in my base? That's so dangerous!"

Dib rolled his eyes, but they snapped back down to track Zim's hand as it approached his face once more with a antiseptic covered cotton ball. He kept still, however warily, and looked back towards the ceiling. "What's Biz then?"

Zim perked up immediately, dabbing carefully at Dib's cheek while he spoke in an excited babble. "Oh, something amazing happened, you will never guess, Dib-bee! I was out in my voot to go pick up some supplies, when I accidentally crash landed on a barren planet. My voot was broken and started spilling this golden liquid everywhere, and everywhere it touched, life bloomed! Oh, it was so pretty, Dib-bee, I wish you could have been there to see it--maybe I can take you some day. But I was trying to fix it, and I slipped and fell into the golden stuff, and then suddenly--" He tossed the now russet stained cotton ball away and made a happy _pop_ sound with his mouth, one hand doing jazz hands as the other reached for a blue container in the box. "There he was! A _smeet_! Of course I couldn't just leave him there, but I also didn't really know what to do with him, so I took him home with me. He is downstairs sleeping right now--he doesn't have a PAK yet--but if you stay long enough, maybe you will get to meet him!"

"Zim, I have no idea what the hell a smeet is," Dib deadpanned, eyes half-lidded as he studied the pipes and wires above him, tracing where they disappeared into the walls.

"Oh, oh no, you wouldn't, would you? Um, w-well, it is like a human baby, except it is Irken instead."

"So an Irken baby?" Dib raised an eyebrow and lolled his head to look at Zim incredulously. "You fell into a puddle, and a baby just poofed into existence? Just like that? What, do you guys reproduce asexually or something?"

That...would explain a lot, actually.

But Zim flushed lilac and averted his eyes to the container he was unscrewing far too meticulously. "Um, no. No we do not. It is more of a cloning process, really, but all Irkens are sterile in any case, but some of us still take mates, like the Tallest." He scooped out a dollop of gel from the container and gently swiped it over Dib's cheekbone, careful to keep it away from where the skin had split open.

It was cool, sticky, and smelled a little astringent. Dib wrinkled his nose and turned his face away again. Zim let out a soft huff and tried to follow him, a hand pressing down on Dib's side to try and lever himself up to where he could see again. Pain lanced through Dib's chest and pinged off his hip, making him jolt violently. "Fuck!"

He'd forgotten about that. 

Zim looked stricken. "I'm sorry, I did not mean to! Where does it hurt, Zim will fix it."

Dib batted Zim's frantic hands away with a scoff and shifted to ease the burn of his side into an ache. "Ease up, dumbass. My ribs are just broken. It's not a big deal, just don't touch it."

"Your--_your ribs are broken_?" Zim exclaimed shrilly, eyes wide in distress. "Why didn't you say something? Zim can help! Here, let me..." He pawed at beneath Dib's trenchcoat and grabbed the hem of his shirt, giving it a valiant tug.

Dib abruptly shoved at him, reaching down to try and pry the little claws from his shirt. "The fuck, Zim?" He growled as they fought for control of his shirt. Zim was deceptively strong. "Let go."

"But I can help you, if you would just let me," Zim said stubbornly. "You cannot walk around with broken bones, Dib-bee, it's not healthy!"

"I said let go, Zim!" 

"Please, just let me help you!" 

"GET THE FUCK OFF ME!" Dib roared, just as Zim managed to pull his shirt up enough to glimpse several fraying, grayed bandages already wrapped around Dib's chest. Dib promptly backhanded him, sending him crashing to the floor. 

Zim cried out, more in shock than anything, and instinctively clutched at his face. He looked back at Dib with wide eyes, trembling as Dib stood up and clenched his fists. A hand hiked Zim up by the front of his uniform to bring him up to Dib's face.

Those pretty, shadowed, amber eyes were narrowed in anger, wild and blazing. Whatever tolerance Dib had been exercising beforehand, it was gone now.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stay the hell away from me?" He hissed, soft and deadly. Dib dropped Zim carelessly back to the floor and sweeping out the door, slamming it behind him so hard that the picture on the wall rattled and fell.

"Dib..." Zim croaked out, his eyes beading with tears. Like he could call the human back with his longing alone. 


	2. My Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Billie Eilish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just because Dib is now bapie does not mean that he's stopped being an asshole :')

Dib stood at his locker and plucked out his chemistry textbook, replacing it with his history book. He had history next, after all, and evidence was everything when it came to crafting belivable lies. He pulled out his headphones from the back of his locker, just as a high voice piped up from the other side of his locker door.

"Hey, Dib!"

Gretchen.

"I saw you here, and, well, y-you know how Prom is in a month? I figured that I'd get a headstart on looking for dates, so that I could buy a dress to match and--"

God, this bitch just rambled, didn't she? 

"--I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go with me? A-As a date?"

Dib slammed his locker shut and leveled Gretchen with an unimpressed, irritated look. She jumped back with a stifled yelp, eyes wide and clutching at her books like a shield. Her cheeks were flushed, face still bright with hope despite Dib's glower.

It pissed him off.

He swept forward and smacked a hand into the lockers beside her head, looming over her and meeting her gaze through his lashes. Her back met the lockers with a solid thud, and she gasped, blush deepening.

Leaning forward, Dib put his mouth right beside her ear, watched her eyes flutter, and whispered, "Why the fuck would I want to go with trash like you?"

His tone was honey-sweet and condescending, a smirk on his lips as he leaned back to take in her shocked, pale face and now teary eyes. Dib popped his earbuds in with a hum.

"Bye Gretchen."

"I...I..." She stammered thickly, before running off towards the bathroom, tears streaking mascara down her face.

Dib rolled his eyes and made his way to class. It was his last class of the day; the class he shared with Zim. 

After that whole debacle in Zim's living room, the little idiot hadn't been to school. Dib only knew that because Keef, who had a boner for the alien the size of fucking Texas, wouldn't shut up about how weird it was for Zim to miss a whole week of school, and wasn't that just so _strange_ Dib? Moron.

Dib was glad that Zim hadn't been there when he'd finally been allowed back to school. He was still pissed at Zim for trying to yank his shirt off without permission, and for insinuating that Dib couldn't take care of himself, and for almost airing out one of Dib's deepest, darkest secrets.

Yeah. _Pissed_ barely covered it.

Dib swept into Mrs. Bitters classroom and made for his seat near the windows. Keef, who sat near the door, two seats behind Zim, was immediately up and nattering at him, voice loud and high enough to pierce through Dib's music. 

"Hiya, Dib! I didn't see Zim at lunch today, do you think he's still sick? I hope he gets better soon! I wonder what he has. When do you think he'll be back?" Keef spewed, rapid fire.

"Keef," Dib ground out lowly as he sat down. "I literally could not give a single fuck _less_ about Zim. Unless you want to end up in the hospital again, leave me the hell alone."

"Aw, Dib, you kidder!" Keef laughed, oblivious to Dib's mounting need to plant his fist in the ginger's face. "But you must be tired--you were sick too, weren't you?"

Dib scoffed and slung his bag down next to his desk. "Sure. Sick."

Keef didn't pat his shoulder or anything else so stupid (winding up with a broken wrist after he'd tried to ruffle Dib's hair was enough) but he did give him a blinding grin before bouncing back to his seat with an, "Okay buddy!"

Dib wanted to throttle him. Yanking his headphones out and leaning back in his seat to stare moodily out the window, Dib crossed his arms and sighed. His ribs still ached, but that was normal. At this point, the pain in his chest was as normal as the burn of nicotine to him. Maybe his ribs had just healed wrong one too many times.

But no, after a few days, the Prof. got tired of having Dib in the house during the day and wrangled him down to the lab to inject him with his certified 'cure for everything'. Child-Addition. Meaning it healed the wound, but left the pain.

_Gets rid of the problem, solidifies the lesson._

Dib snorted at the echo of the Prof's voice in his head. It wasn't very solidified if it needed to be retaught, again and again and again and again...

The classroom door opened, and through the window's reflection, Dib could see Zim slip hesitantly into the room, his big eyes immediately locking onto Dib's turned back. While his expression brightened, he still looked nervous.

"D-Dib-bee!" Zim piped up, and Dib grit his teeth in irritation. 

He ignored Zim, even as he ventured forward as if to make for Dib's desk. The bell rang, and Mrs. Bitters was abruptly at her desk at the front of the class. She smiled out at them all, just too widely to be genuine. "Alright, if everyone would please take their seats so we can get started!"

Zim faltered in his trek, then turned around and went back to his seat, deflated. Dib snorted quietly and proceeded to not focus for the rest of the lesson.

He knew all of this already, so why did he need to pay attention? Dib gave Mrs. Bitters a apologetic smile and a bullshit excuse about grabbing the wrong textbook this morning when she asked why he hadn't gotten his book out with the rest of them.

The class dragged on far too long, and when the bell rang Dib practically vaulted himself out of his seat and to the door when he saw Zim start eyeing him. He was not in the mood to deal with his alien tagalong today, _thanks_. Dib stuffed his headphones in, cranked the volume all the way, and hummed loudly until he was out of the building. He dug his keys out of his coat pocket and spun them around his finger as he caught sight of Gaz waiting for him by the outer wall.

"Ass up, squirt. In." Dib barked over the blare of his music as he kicked a pebble into Keef's path. The idiot tripped and fell flat on his face. Gaz rolled her eyes and stomped over to the car to hop in, only to pause and look over Dib's shoulder with a raised eyebrow. 

"He's yelling your name." Gaz said. Or, he assumed she did. He'd gotten better at reading lips over the years. Not that he bothered half the time.

"Yeah. That's why we're getting in the car and driving away before he attracts too much attention," Dib growled as he swept up to the driver's door and flung it open. He flopped inside and slammed it shut.

Well, he tried to. There just happened to be a white gloved hand in his way. And suddenly one of his earbuds was yanked out of his ear as Zim somehow fit himself between the door and Dib. 

Incensed on _multiple_ levels, Dib snarled and lunged, only for Gaz to grab him by the back of the shirt and yank him back. "Whatever you've got to say, you better say it quick," She drawled. "My arm's getting tired."

Zim looked a bit startled, like he had no clue why Dib was angry at him (he probably didn't), but he nodded hastily and cleared his throat. "I-I was just going to ask for the Dib's help with something after school."

Dib's head craned up from the death hold Gaz was holding it in, eyes narrowed. "And why the fuck would I help you, exactly?"

"You sounded interested last week. Zim thought you'd like to meet him."

Eyes widening in realization, Dib went slack in Gaz's hold. She dropped him immediately, pulling out her switch and powering it up with a grunt. Boots squeaking as they slid packed and melting snow across the floor mats, Dib slumped fairly upright in the seat, hands placed loosely on the wheel as he adjusted his posture and cranked the car up. Zim stumbled back when Dib shoved him and slammed the door in his face. He gazed into the reflectively tinted windows anxiously, odd teeth gnawing at his lip. 

After a moment, the window rolled down and he perked back up. Zim leaned forward--

Only to get a face full of smoke again. He reared back with a cough, eyes watering with the sting. Dib smirked faintly out at him, vindicative as he took his cigarette back into his mouth.

"I'll think about it."

With that, the window slammed back up and the car peeled out of the school parking lot with nary a thought for the other drivers. Dib pulled out into the road with his knee to the steering wheel as he worked to plug his phone into the aux. Lemon Demon began to pour out of the grainy speakers, and Gaz snorted. He sneered at her and leaned back to change gears so they could merge into traffic.

It was quiet, save for the jittery tune of Man In Stripes and Glasses coming from the radio and the quiet beeps and blasts of Gaz's game throughout. Then, once they'd made it halfway home, Gaz decided to speak.

"So. What was Zim talking about?"

"None of your damn business, squirt," Dib huffed, more tired than anything now.

"Who's the mysterious he?" Gaz persisted without any real curiosity.

"I said it was none of your business, Gaz," Dib snapped, irate and he finished off his cigarette and tossed it out the window.

"Litterer."

"Punk."

And that was the extent of their conversation. Longer than usual, for sure. Dib was glad it was over.

Then, just before they pulled into the driveway.

"Did you change your bandages last night?"

"Shut the fuck up."

•💗•

The doorbell rang, and GIR rushed to get it, tripping over his own feet in the process and taking twice as long as needed. "Comiiiing!"

He pushed open the door and squealed. "Mary! Hello Mary! Oh, I'll go get Master! He's gone be so excited!"

Dib raised an eyebrow, thumbs in his pockets, and scoffed. "Yeah, sure. Can I come in, or am I just supposed to freeze my ass off out here?"

"You can do whatcha want!" GIR chirped as he tottered over to the flowerpot in the kitchen and threw himself down it. There was a clatter, and then the house pipes above shuddered and stilled.

"Right," Dib muttered, uneasy. He stepped in and slammed the door shut behind him with his foot. Tugging at his scarf with a finger, Dib unknotted it so that it hung down his sides loosely, fluttering up as he plopped himself down on Zim's ugly couch. He didn't even really know why he was here. He was still angry with Zim, but it had dulled to something that didn't make his bones burn and his fingers itch. That didn't mean that he didn't bring some protection this time, however. Dib wouldn't make that mistake again.

"Dib-bee! You came!" Zim's voice exclaimed from the kitchen.

Dib turned, and blinked. There was Zim, as always, in disguise but without his white and yellow coat. On his hip, was a teeny, tiny thing that was shaped vaguely like Zim. Its skin was a light rose pink, with big, bulbous golden eyes. The antennae at the top of its head were shaped in the reverse of Zim's, almost like--

"Is it wearing my shirt?" Dib asked incredulously.

"Um," Zim began, his cheeks coloring purple as he averted his eyes. "Well, see, there is something I forgot to tell you. After it rained and you discovered that water burns Zim, you threw your shirt at me. It was still very wet so it did more harm than good--b-but Zim knows your heart was in the right place! And you never asked for it back, so I kept it, and, well, I-I was wearing it when I fell." He gnawed his lip, seemed to steel himself, then looked up with a bright smile and held the thing up like Simba. "So meet Biz, Dib-bee! He is half of you."

There was a moment of silence in which one could've heard a pin drop from all the way in the basement. Dib's fingers went white against the arm of Zim's couch. "_What?_"

Zim faltered and pulled Biz back to him, cradling him gently. "I did all the tests, and they came back with the same results. Biz is half human. Zim was not sure this was possible before, but it is, and now look! It is a miracle our species was compatible at all!"

Dib slowly, slowly got to his feet, and made his way over to where Zim was standing in the doorway. He looked down at the two Irkens, then reached down and plucked Biz from Zim's grasp. Zim let him. Draped in dark blue fabric far too big for it, the...smeet, Zim had called it, looked even smaller. It was hardly the size of Dib's forearm, antennae included. 

Biz blinked widely up at him, and then smacked his little claws against Dib's cheeks. Dib flinched, startled, but froze when the smeet leaned forward and gently bonked their heads together with a giggle. Biz perked his antennae until they rested on either side of Dib's skull, brushing against his hair. Dib stared.

"Hello," Biz whispered in thick, accented English. He smiled.

"_Oh dios, es lindo_," Dib blurted out, agonized. He held the smeet as far away from him as possible, hastily shoving him back in Zim's arms. Dib stumbled back and nearly fell over when his knees hit the armchair. "What the fuck, Zim?" He snapped, teeth bared.

"Not in front of Biz!" Zim gasped, clapping his gloves over Biz's antennae. His face had flushed further, like he was scandalized.

"_Why_ did you call me here?" Dib demanded, eyes narrowed as he straightened himself back up. 

Zim's hand fell away from Biz's antennae, who giggled and reached for Zim's wig, smiling a goofy little smile with one tooth peeking out of his mouth. Zim pushed Biz's hands down and sighed. "Zim needs a favor from you, Dib. I must go off planet to get the resources to build Biz a PAK, and there are no other humans that know what I am. What _Biz_ is. Would you please," Zim pleaded as he walked toward Dib, lifting Biz up to him again in the process. "Watch him for me while Zim is gone? I promise it will not take more than a couple of days!"

Dib eyed both of them warily, unnerved. Zim gave him a beseeching look, and Biz widened his already wide eyes until they shimmered in the tinted light of Zim's base. Dib shuddered.

"Alright!" He snarled as he snatched Biz from Zim again. "Just--never make that face again. And I'm sleeping here."

"Oh, thank you, Dib-bee!" Zim shrieked happily as he threw himself at Dib, squishing Dib's torso in a much too tight hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I know Biz will be in very good hands!"

_Do you?_

Dib sneered and pushed the joyous alien off him, setting the other on his shoulder so he could use both hands. Something cold and prickly was crawling up the nocks of his spine, but he ignored it. "Yeah, whatever. You'll owe me something big, bug boy."

Zim thanked him again, then rushed off to the basement again to grab a large bag filled with human baby things to dump at Dib's feet. Dib sat stiffly down on the couch again, Biz settled in his lap as Zim started to go over what he thought they would need. Dib half listened, more focused on studying the thing sitting between his knees. Zim embraced the smeet before he left, murmured something to him, then dashed off up to his spaceship to take off.

Dib waited a few minutes after Zim had left, reeling a bit as everything that had just happened started to set in. He glanced at the bag on the floor, then stood, hooking Biz up around the middle and tucking him under his arm like a football.

"Alright, mini menace. Guess it's just you and me now."

And simultaneously, both in Zim's living room and miles from Earth, just past Jupiter, there were twin thoughts.

'_This was a bad idea._'


	3. Hostage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> By Billie Eilish

Dib wrapped Biz up like a burrito before going outside. While it would've been easy--_so_ easy--to run outside, hoist Biz in the air and scream, "LOOK AN ALIEN!", Dib liked to think that he had a bit more class than that. 

No, if he was gonna expose any alien, it would be Zim. The one who could at least fight back. Biz could only stare up at Dib with his big, golden eyes and giggle obliviously.

<s>(And Dib would never, ever torture a fucking kid--)</s>

So Dib swaddled Biz up until it just looked like he was carrying a bundle of blankets, then made the horrid trek back to his house. As much as he hated Zim's house and all the pastels it inhabited, Dib much preferred it to his own. And no fucking way was he bringing a baby, Irken or not, into the Membrane household while the Prof. was there.

He shushed Biz absently as he jogged across the road and ducked behind the neighbors fence to check for the Professor's car. Gone. Dib let out a breath. 

Straightening, he cradled Biz a little closer to his chest and made his way towards the house. "Alright, the Prof. is at work, which means we've got half an hour to get in and get out before gets back. So hussle up, mini menace."

Biz blew a raspberry at him, possibly in an attempt to mimic his shushing. "Hussle."

"That's right."

Dib snuck over to the door, avoiding the security cameras and angling Biz into his chest so even if the cameras grazed them, it wouldn't catch the distinctly not human glint of Biz's eyes in the shadows of the blankets. Dib slipped into the house, flicked on the lights, then made his way to his room.

"In and out, in and out," Dib murmured feverishly under his breath, slinging his bookbag out of his closet and beginning to stuff clothes into it one handed. He'd need to leave a note for Gaz, just to give her a heads up about the probable state of the Prof.'s mind when she got home. He scribbled some half-assed excuse on a scrap of paper, signed his initial at the bottom, then briefly ducked into Gaz's room to toss it on her bed. 

"Hussle," Biz repeated loudly, and Dib smushed a hand over his mouth. Biz giggled.

The shout echoed through the hall, loud in the empty confines of the house. It set Dib's teeth on edge, hackles raised. He shook his head and swept back into his room to grab his things. He slung his bag over his shoulder, then froze as a loud bang came from downstairs. The garage.

_Shit._

Folding the lip of a blanket over Biz's face, Dib darted out of his room and kept to the shadows as he bolted, light-footed, down the stairs and crept around to the back door. Slipping quickly and quietly out of the house, Dib rounded the corner of the house to peek around the front. The driveway was still empty, and there were no fumes coming from the now ajar garage door. He frowned.

Edging towards the garage, Dib carefully leaned over to peek inside. Thankfully, there was no sign of the Prof., just--

"Dammit George, buy your own fucking belt-sander!" Dib sniped as he stepped fully into view, glaring at the forest yeti standing in the corner with a scuffed rocking chair in its hands. Snatching the broom, Dib came at him swinging. "I don't have time for you today, I'm fucking busy!" He bellowed as he crashed the bristled end over the beast's head.

"But I need to--" George began to a rough whine, only to be cut off by Dib continuing to beat at him with the broom.

"Buy. Your. _Own_!" Dib growled, annoyed as he chased George out of his garage. He shook the broom at him and sneered. "Get out and don't come back." He turned to shut the garage, tossing the broom haphazardly inside as the door rumbled back down.

When Dib turned back around George had scampered off into the woods. He scoffed and began to make his way back towards Zim's house. A muffled sound came from the bundle in his arms, made him pause as he flipped the bits of blanket back with a raised eyebrow.

Biz peered out at him. Head tipped, one antennae twitching out of the blankets to perk towards Dib in curiosity, he chirruped out a soft, "Who?"

Dib pursed his lips, tucked the stray antennae back into the cover of the blankets, and started walking again. "Bigfoot."

A small, pink claw poked out at him, right in his face. "Bigfoot?"

Brow quirked, Dib shook his head. He pointed at himself. "Dib."

"Dib," Biz repeated. He blinked, then grinned. "Dib!"

"That's right." Dib gazed down at the little menace in curious contemplation. A smirk twitching his lips, he leaned a bit closer as they reached the cul-de-sac. "Fuck."

"Fuck!" Biz yelled joyously.

"_...Hijo de puta._"

Biz tipped his head further, then after a moment, in perfect accent, " _Hijo de puta_!"

Dib grinned, marginally impressed. "I'll think we'll get along just fine, mini menace." He pushed the door to Zim's house open and stepped inside. Somehow, it seemed much less menacing now. Dumping his bag next to the couch, Dib unwrapped Biz and dropped him onto the couch before flopping down beside him. Fishing the TV remote out from between his tailbone and the couch cushions with a grimace, Dib regarded it blankly for a moment, before a wicked grin curled his lips. "Wanna watch a movie?"

•💗•

Zim was just parking in the wide lot of the nearest Irken outpost, when a transmission came across his screen. GIR perked up for half a second, then closed his eyes again and rolled underneath Zim's seat with a whine. Casting a brief glance at his strange robot, Zim answered the transmission and was delighted to see that it was his Tallest.

He'd completely forgotten! They called at least once a week for updates or just to ask how his day went. To be fair, Zim hadn't really been focused on the time, what with Biz now up and running around the base.

"My Tallest!" Zim chirped. 

"Hello Zim," Red greeted with a small smile. 

"How are you doing? Did you get the care package we send you?" Purple chimed in as he crowded in closer to the screen, shoving Red a little to the side. Red rolled his eyes good naturedly.

"I did! I appreciated the inclusion of the new Vortian donuts, they were very good," Zim said earnestly.

"I ATE THE WHITE ONES!" GIR shrieked from his spot under Zim's chair.

"Yes you did, GIR." Zim shot the space he assumed his robot was in a soft smile before turning back to the screen. 

Red was squinting at the screen, brow furrowed and antennae pinned back. "Zim...where are you?"

Perking up, Zim's eyes widened and he bounced on his heels. "Zim is currently on Outpost 618. I need to retrieve supplies to build a PAK."

Alarmed, Purple butted Red out of the way entirely and clutched at the screen in worry. "Is there something wrong with your PAK?" He demanded shrilly. "Do you need help?"

"Oh! No, no, My Tallest! The PAK is not for me," Zim hurried to explain. He flapped a hand and smiled, excited. "I have discovered a miraculous anomaly! Computer, bring up that picture of Biz for the Tallest."

"**Which one? You took several.**"

Coughing, Zim cocked one antenna and averted his eyes. "Ah, the first one, please."

"**Displaying anatomical scan...**"

Though Zim couldn't see it, he knew it had appeared by the way Tallest Purple leaned in closer, Tallest Red reappearing to stare over his shoulder, wide eyed. Zim bounced a little higher on his toes. "This is Biz! I crash-landed on a barren planet and something spilled out of my voot. I accidentally fell into it, and there he was! He's not my exact clone, of course, as he has a bit of human DNA in him as well--also accidental but no less miraculous--but he seems completely healthy! He has a bit of trouble with retaining information, however, hence his need for a PAK."

Purple was gazing at the screen with wonder, stars in his eyes. Red had a hand over his mouth, a look in his eyes that was certainly stunned, but not exactly happy. If anything, he looked a little pale.

"A smeet?" Purple gasped. "There hasn't been a smeet born outside of Irk for--"

"Eight million years," finished Red in a breathless voice. He swept closer to the screen, heedless of Purple's proximity. "And it's--Zim, you said it was partially human?" He turned his attention back to Zim, whose antennae had drooped down again at the tone of Red's voice.

"Y-Yes, my Tallest. Humans shed far more often than most, I must have carried something with me."

"A _hybrid_! Fascinating! Oh, but Red, shouldn't that be--" Purple began, only for Red to finish for him again.

"Impossible, yes. It _is_ impossible. This _shouldn't_ be possible, it's--" He shook his head. "Zim, can you hold off on that PAK? We will send you one, that way we can make sure everything is...correct. We wouldn't want anything to happen to your Biz, would we?"

Zim gasped, hands flying to his mouth. He shook his head rapidly. "No, not my Biz! I love him so much, my Tallest! If there is any chance I could hurt him, I do not want to. Zim will wait for you."

Red let out a breath. Purple placed a gentle hand on his arm, finally realizing what he was worked up over. Giving Purple a grateful smile, Red put his hand over Purple's and squeezed. They turned back to Zim in tandem. 

"Thank you, Zim. We'll try to be quick," Red assured him. 

"But I would go ahead and order more snacks!" Purple piped up. "Don't want to underfeed the precious thing. He is a growing boy, after all."

"Of course!" Zim replied, eyes wide. "He will need much more sustenance than I will. Zim will aquire more sugar packs at once!"

"You do that, Zim. We will see you again soon." Red gave him a fond smile.

"We love you!" Purple called, just before the transmission ended.

Tickled pink at the affirmation, when Zim let his wings out they gave a happy little flutter. Humming pleasantly, determinated and buoyant, Zim hopped out of the voot and made his way over to the nearest help desk. GIR fell out of the voot behind him, then scrambled to keep pace and almost tripped them both when he caught up. When he righted himself, he attached himself to Zim's leg by sitting on the top of his foot and wrapping his arms around Zim's leg. Deciding that walking would be a little much, Zim took to the air, the warmth of the Outpost's constant sunniness a boon on his wings. 

The help desks were all painted various shades of pastel pink and white, the Irken insignia painted on the signs above them with little question marks in the center. Zim flew down to the nearest one and was surprised to see that it was a Vortian manning it. 

She was dressed in frilly white scrubs, a smile on her face that made Zim's PAK click with recognition. The standard chest piece for befriended species' sat in the center of her breastplate, glowing hotly and making a rapid ticking noise. Her eyes were open too wide, teeth bared.

She looked friendly!

"Hello! My name is Miqe! How can I make your day better?" She inquired politely.

"Hello there, Miqe! I am Zim!" He greeted, enthusiastic. "I need a double shipment of standard Irken sugar packs delivered to my base. I have acquired a new resident recently."

"Oh, you are in luck, friend!" The chest piece ticked louder. "We happen to have just received a shipment of them! Let me see what I can do," Miqe mused as she whirled and pressed a button on the wall. She descended into the depths of the the help desk for a minute or so, before reemerging with two crates stacked in her arms. She handed them to Zim, who took them with a happy noise. "How's that?"

"It is perfect. Thank you," Zim said sincerely, practically glowing as he spun on heel and nearly fell over GIR again. "Oops! Aha, thank you, Miqe. Goodbye!" He waved as best he could with his arms full, then bolstered himself back into the air once more. 

The chest piece suddenly fell silent. Miqe's eyes were empty. She smiled and waved, a single streak of saline down her cheek. Fortunately, no one was there to see it.

"Goodbye..."

Zim piled back into his voot, then paused, a shiver running up his spine. He blinked. Ah, it was probably nothing. 

He rearranged the crates behind his seat with a huff, GIR once more napping beneath it. Shoving them into place, Zim clambered into the ship and sighed as it shielded down around him once more. It had taken him most of an Earth day to get here, so it should not take much longer than that to get back, even with the extra weight. 

That should only leave Dib with Biz for two days, at most. That was a relief.

Not that Zim didn't trust his Dib-bee, of course! But Biz would miss him--yes, that was it. Biz would miss him, try to go down into the base to find him, perhaps leading Dib down into its depths as well, where he and Biz were truly alone and no one could hear if the smeet _screamed_\--

\--_pain pain pain blood pain I can't hear anything why did you **want this**\--_

. 

Zim's PAK clicked. 

He shut his eyes and calmly took off up into the atmosphere. He smiled. "I am sure they are fine. There is no reason for the worries and anxiousness. Right GIR?" 

"I'm gonna eat this spider now. It's just in the corner--and now it's in me! It tickles!" 

"I bet it does, GIR," Zim chirped. "I bet it does." And then he allowed everything but the beauty of the stars before him to be razed from his mind. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Swear words are the only Spanish I can translate with any sort of confidence, and I say that as someone who failed Spanish twice. So if you see anything fucked up in any of my translations, plz correct me because I'm honestly relying on Google translate here.
> 
> I got this chapter out a little earlier in honor of Kriss getting their account back! ZaDR Pride, babes 😘


	4. Weak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> By AJR

Dib pulled the pillow over his face and screamed into it. Unlike the wails of Biz, it was muffled. "Oh my _God_!" Dib groaned into the down. "Computer! Can't you make him shut up? Babysitting the little pest has very few pros and a good night's sleep was supposed to be one of them!"

'_Mostly because you don't have to worry about **someone** trying to lobotomize you in your sleep._'

Dib grimaced.

The computer seemed at a loss. "**I am sorry, but he won't calm down. He throws every toy I give him back out of the crib. He is crying for you.**"

"Yeah, I can hear him," Dib shot back, irate. 

"**Perhaps if you were to let him sleep--**" 

"Hell. No." Dib tugged the pillow back over his head and curled up on his side. No way was he letting an alien, no matter how small and innocent looking, sleep in the same room as him. That why he'd had Zim's computer make him a small bedroom with a lockable door, even as it had brought Biz's crib up to the living room.

There was another, piercing wail of his name, and Dib grit his teeth. Another, higher pitched, and he threw the covers off with a growl. He slid out of the elevated egg-pod thing that the computer had created in lieu of a bed, and stormed out into the living room.

It was a wreck. Several toys had been thrown so hard they'd wound up lodged in the wall plaster, and the blankets and pillows that had been lovingly tucked inside Biz's crib were strewn all over the floor as the bug himself stood on the rumpled cushion inside, tears streaking down his face and screaming at the top of his lungs.

When he spotted Dib in the doorway, dressed in his boxers and regular blue sweater with a murderous look on his face, Biz perked up. He sniffled and bounced on his little taloned feet, trying to climb the curved walls of the crib to get to him.

Dib stormed forward and hoisted Biz into the air roughly, glowering at him with all the fury of an insomniac who finally had a chance to rest and _couldn't_. Practically throwing Biz onto the couch, Dib brandished a finger in the now flailing smeet's face.

"Listen the fuck up, _Biz_, because I'm only gonna say this once. Humans need sleep. You're apparently half human, which is still bullshit, but whatever. _You_ need sleep. So go the fuck to sleep!" Dib shouted, hands fisting at his sides.

"B-But..." Biz sniffled. "Scared!"

"Scared? You're scared," Dib uttered, tone disbelieving. He let out a scoff and ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, yeah, sure. What are you scared of, Biz?" He rolled the question off his tongue with near visible condescension, eyes rolling.

Biz seemed to struggle to find words, pulling at the shirt over his knees. "The...chainsaw. Chainsaw man!" He blurted out, eyes wide and fearful as he ducked his face into the shirt as well, hiding. "Loud! Scary!"

Oh. Well, that made sense at least.

Dib took a deep breath and shifted back on his heels. He reached forward and picked Biz up again, holding him under the arms. "Leatherface isn't real. He doesn't exist." When Biz opened his mouth, Dib continued forcefully with narrowed eyes. "And even if he _was_, who cares? You're an alien. Beat the shit out of him!"

"Beat...the shit?" Biz questioned, antennae perking curiously.

"That's right." Dib nodded curtly. "If anyone tries to hurt you, you hurt them first. Bite them, kick them--hell, with that arm of yours you'd probably pack a hell of a punch. So yeah, beat the shit out of them."

Looking determined and enthused, Biz fisted his little claws in front him and hummed. "Beat the shit out of them!"

Dib dropped Biz back into his crib and clapped once. "That's it! Now go to sleep!"

"To sleep!" Biz cheered, raising his fist to the air like he was saying a war chant.

"There you go," Dib muttered as he trudged his way back into his bedroom. He shut the door behind him and plopped back into his egg-pod bed. "Computer. Next time I ask you to make a room, make sure it's soundproof."

•💗•

The next morning, Dib woke up (for the first time in ages) comfortable. He was warm, the bedding beneath and around him was soft, and there was something small cuddled up to his chest. 

Wait.

Dib's eyes flew open and he damn near backflipped out of the pod bed, landing unsteadily on his feet near the door in a half crouch. Wild amber eyes landed on Biz, who was sitting up with the blanket hanging half off his head, one antenna pinned beneath it as the other perked up towards Dib. 

"What the hell!" Dib yelled, chest heaving as his heart thudded a rapid tattoo against his ribs. 

"Good mornin'!" Biz chirped, waving at him.

"What are you doing in here?" Dib demanded, still locked in a defensive crouch in front of the door. "I had the door locked!"

"No," Biz insisted. "Not lock."

Irate, Dib slowly straightened back up and turned to look at the door. "I'm pretty sure I fucking know when I--" He paused as he realized, then groaned. "Fuck."

He'd forgotten to lock it back last night after he'd put Biz back to bed. The little roach must've crawled in after he'd fallen asleep. Scrubbing a hand over his face, Dib clawed his fingers into his cheek before whirling back around to face Biz. 

"Whatever! Don't do that again. And get out so I can put my pants on."

"Pants?" Biz questioned, but Dib had already stalked forward and plucked him out of the egg-pod, plopping him outside the door and slamming it in his face.

"Computer, put the menace in the kitchen and start the oven, would you? Give him a toy or something, but don't let him near the stove," Dib called as he yanked a pair of jeans out of his backpack and tugged them on.

"**Temperature?**"

"I don't fucking know--350? Don't burn the house down but make it hot," Dib shot back, glaring at the ceiling.

He buttoned his jeans and pulled on his trenchcoat before emerging from the room and going into the kitchen. Biz was sat in a bright purple high chair, the buckles strapped with frilly white edge guards so the edges wouldn't bite into Biz's arms. The bug was puzzling over what looked like a rubics cube, but nine colors instead of six. Dib raised an eyebrow, but otherwise ignored him.

Slinging open Zim's fridge, Dib rummaged through its contents to see what he could do for breakfast. There were a great many sweet things stuffed on the shelves, but there was also the occasional fruit of vegetable tucked into the corners. For some reason, the crisper was entirely filled with eggs out of the carton, some with happy faces drawn on them in crayon.

Dib pulled out the entire drawer with a huff and got to work. 

Normally he would just go buy some fast food, or just do without if he was low on cash, but if it was someone else's food he might as well take advantage.

He banged around in Zim's kitchen, finding the pans hung where the spoons should be and the spoons tucked into the pantry next to the cereal. Rolling his eyes, Dib hummed along to the song currently bouncing around in his head as he threw ingredients together, dumped them in a pan, and slung it into the oven. "Computer, let me know when that turns brown."

"**According to my timer, t-minus ten minutes.**"

"Cool," Dib uttered tonelessly as he dropped into the seat across from Biz, who had finished his puzzle at some point and was now balancing it on his head as he fiddled with another one. Dib pulled out his phone and ran through the newest articles on one of his forums, scoffing when he came across one about Bigfoot living on Mars. He also had a new text from Gaz, that merely read '**youre a dick**'. Dib wasn't going to argue with that.

He ignored the multiple new notifications on his media accounts--Facebook, Instagram, the whole nine yards because the Prof. needed them to maintain a normal facade--and continued to peruse his forums and start fights in the comment section of a few of the stupider articles. Dib was smirking over a war he'd started over the validity of vampires being more bat than human (not something he particularly cared about, but was fun to watch people tear into each other over) when the computer let him know his _tapas_ were done.

Heaving himself up from the chair, Dib opened the oven, paused for a moment, then darted his hand forward and yanked the pan out before quickly dropping it on the stove top. He was quick, but the skin of his fingers still flushed red and raised a bit, stinging. Dib waved them out and shoved his hand into his pocket. It'd heal.

Biz's antennae perked up and he dropped both of his puzzles. "Smells good."

"Bet your sweet ass it does," Dib murmured absently as he poked a fork into the center of the pan. He hummed and sliced into it, taking a bite. His eyes fluttered shut and he leaned back against the counter with a pleased noise. He licked his fork clean and sighed. It had been a while since he'd had the chance to make _tapas_. Nice to know he still had the knack.

Tucking his hand into his coat sleeve, Dib grabbed the pan and brought it over to the table, snagging another fork on the way. He smacked it next to Biz and nudged the pan into the center of the table. Stabbing himself another bite, he gestured between the pie and the kid. "Eat."

Biz leaned his head forward and sniffed at it, curious. "What's it?"

"_Tapas_," Dib replied, mouth full. When Biz just continued to stare at him, he shook his head. "_Pincho de tortilla_? It's eggs, just eat it." He huffed, exasperated.

Biz picked up his fork in his little fist and stabbed at the pan awkwardly, forking a whole hunk of egg and potato into his mouth, cheeks puffed out to hold it. Dib snorted, amused. Biz swallowed, went starry eyed, then dove in for more. Within five minutes, the two of them had demolished the entire pan, fighting with their forks for the last piece.

Biz won. Dib pretended he hadn't let him.

•💗•

When Zim landed back in the hangar of the attic, it was growing dark outside. He clambered out of the voot, box in hand, and hastily turned for the stairs. "Computer, could you tell me where Biz and Dib are, please?" 

"**They are currently in the living room**." The computer intoned, not sounding worried, but also not sounding pleased.

"And they're b-both fine?" Zim coughed out as he trooped down the stairs and set the box down on the chute to the lab. Not that he doubted his Dib-bee, of course! Zim was just, er, worried for their safety.

"**Neither of them have been injured within the last ten hours.**"

That...did not sound promising. 

Zim hurried towards the living room, but slowed his pace when a familiar, rough voice floated to his ears. 

"Cats go 'meow'. Butterflies don't say anything. Pigs go 'you have the right to remain silent'--"

"Dib-bee?" Zim ventured as he peeked his head around the corner. He caught sight of Dib sitting on the couch while Biz sat on the floor, holding up a small, colorful book that depicted various Earth animals. Biz turned the page and pointed to another animal with wiggly enthusiasm, but Dib had whipped around to look at Zim, wide eyed and looking a bit caught out. 

"Oh. You're back." Dib stood abruptly. "Good, so I can go--"

"Wait, Dib!"

"Don't leave!"

Zim and Biz cried at the same time, Zim coming fully into the living room as if he could stop Dib from leaving with his presence. If anything, that just seemed to spook Dib further. Zim held his hands up in surrender. "I just--the computer said one of you got injured?"

Dib seemed to relax slightly, but in an odd way. A sneer twisted his lips. "What, don't trust me, Space Boy?" Before Zim could answer, Dib had turned back around and reached for the door. "Good. You shouldn't."

"Not hurt," Biz suddenly piped up. His vocabulary would improve immensely when his PAK was attached, but for now Zim could understand him well enough. 

"You didn't get hurt?" Zim reaffirmed, just to be sure. Biz shook his head, and big magenta eyes turned on Dib, who had stiffened again. "Dib-bee, are you--"

"I think we both remember what happened _last_ time you wanted to play nurse, Zim," Dib said quietly. "So I suggest you shut the fuck up, right now."

Zim went rigid and his antennae pinned back against his head, wary. "Zim just wanted to say," He began, then seemed to stumble over what he wanted to say before blurting out, "that I need you to stay another night."

Dib glanced back at him, brows furrowed in confusion. "What?"

Thinking on his feet, Zim nodded rapidly, "Yes, yes--Zim still needs to build Biz's PAK! It will take a long time and a lot of concentration, so I will not be able to watch him properly. If you could just stay the night again, so you can hear him if he needs something, Zim would greatly appreciate it."

"...Why should I? How do I know this isn't a plan to get me off my guard so you can kill me?" 

"Zim would never kill--" Zim began, agahast at the idea, before Dib cut him off.

"Yeah, yeah, you wouldn't hurt a fly, whatever." He rolled his eyes so hard Zim thought they might spin out of his head. "Say I accept then. You and the mini menace stay out of the room, and I'm allowed to shoot either of you should you come in without my explicit permission."

"Why do you have--um, I mean, of course!" Zim said quickly when Dib raised an eyebrow at him. He swallowed harshly, a little pale. "If that makes the Dib feel safer, then yes." Even if Zim didn't want to.

The tension sliding from Dib's shoulders, his eyes went half-lidded as he turned on heel with his hands in his pockets. "We're good then. I'll stay the night to monitor your larvae."

Zim's antennae perked back up, the left one a little higher than the right. "T-Thank you, Dib-bee!"

Sweeping towards the door on the other side of the room--Zim didn't remember that being there when he left--Dib waved at hand back at him dismissively. "You're not welcome. This isn't gonna be a regular thing. And we have school tomorrow, so I don't know what the hell you're gonna do then, but I'm not missing class to watch him."

Zim fully trusted the computer and GIR to look after Biz for a few hours, but he didn't tell Dib that. It was the only reason he was staying, after all. And maybe it was selfish of Zim, to want to keep him close a little longer, but Biz seemed to like Dib and no harm had come to him in Dib's care, so surely he was under no risk with Dib around. Not that Zim had thought he would be in the first place! But Dib sometimes got very angry and did things he didn't mean.

"Goodnight, Dib-bee, sweet dreams! I love you!"

"Fuck off!"

Yes, Zim may have been being selfish by telling Dib white lies to keep him there, but as Zim headed down into the lab knowing both of his loved ones were safe within the walls of his base, he couldn't bring himself to regret it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please tell me if I got some words or references wrong because I have no damn idea but I'm trying.
> 
> Next chapter, I get to add the Yule Log tag! >:D


	5. SOS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> By Rihanna

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YO check them bottom notes for some warnings 👏👌✌️

The whirlwind of waking up the next morning to Zim shoving muffins in his face, Biz squealing about something or other, and having to walk to school had Dib completely forgetting exactly why he'd agreed to stay at Zim's in the first place.

So when he walked into the house that day after school, he was caught off guard by the sight of the Prof. waiting for him on the couch. Dib's entire body locked up, frozen between fight or flight because neither would help him now. 

"Where have you been?"

Dib was _fucked_.

•💗•

Zim put Biz to bed with a hum, the computer playing a soft lulling track in the crib to put him to sleep. Zim had been far too preoccupied with building Biz's PAK and trying to remember exactly what went into it (he'd put a few things in that he immediately forgot about and wound up startling him when he discovered them there later) to think about much else, but now that Biz's PAK was nearing completion, Zim could sit back and think over the past few days.

He knew the Tallest had told him to wait on giving Biz a PAK, but Zim was making him one anyway. What if the PAK the Tallest sent got damaged in some way, or someone stole it on its way to Earth? Zim didn't know if Biz could function that long without a PAK. 

Biz was a hybrid, after all, as impossible as it should've been. It was precisely because it was so impossible that Zim was so worried, because a PAK could fix almost any bodily malfunction. What if Biz had malfunctions that just weren't visible yet? What if Biz was slowly dying and Zim was unaware and every second without a PAK was another step closer to _death_\--

Zim went boneless in his chair as an abrupt rush of syrupy warmth flushed through his system, smothering his panic and replacing it with joviality. What was he so worried about? Of course Biz was fine! There was no need to think of it anymore.

...What was he thinking of again?

Before Zim could recall exactly what he was doing, the door bell rang. Antennae perking curiously, Zim looked up towards the ceiling.

"Computer?"

"**It is the Dib.**" It replied, knowing what he was going to ask.

Before it could finish its report, Zim was up and scrambling for the elevator. He barely remembered to snag his disguise, just in case, before hurtled into the elevator and hit the button. Adjusting his wig, Zim gnawed at his lip. "Did he say what he was here for?"

"**He hasn't said much. What he does say is fairly unintelligible.**"

"Is he hurt?" Zim said worriedly, gloved hands leaving his wig to wring tightly in front of him. 

"**He is not...well.**" The computer replied at length, uncertain.

Zim blanched. 

When he reached the surface portion of his base, he climbed hastily out of the flower pot and darted over to the door. He wrenched it open, a concerned furrow to his brow. "Dib--"

He cut himself off at the sight in front of him. Dib was standing slumped against the doorway, head leaned against the trim and a bottle filled with some sort of strong smelling liquid dangling from one hand as the other clutched clumsily at his middle. His eyes were glazed and the odd black circles in their centers had doubled in size. The Dib's face was black and blue again, one lense of his glasses cracked down the middle.

Zim stumbled back with a yelp when Dib lurched forwards and fell onto his hands and knees just inside the doorway. Shaking his head and groaning, Dib used the glass bottle--now that it was closer, Zim thought it smelled like poison--to try and lever himself back to his feet.

"F-Fuckin'," Dib grumbled, voice slurred. "Help me up, Zim."

"Right!" Zim yelped, hefting Dib up by the air and steadying him when he teetered dangerously once on his feet. He helped Dib over to the couch, then went back over to close the door. It was cold outside, and Dib was barely any warmer. It felt scarily reminiscent of last time, when Zim had managed to coerce the surly human into coming back to Zim's home to let him heal him.

Which was why Zim was now approaching the couch with utmost caution. He stopped just within arm's length of the couch, fingers twiddling nervously. "...If I try to dress your wounds, are you going to hit me again?"

Dib lolled his head to the side to stare at Zim, eyes half-lidded and shimmering. "No."

Nodding to himself, Zim carefully clambered up onto the couch beside him and murmured a request to the computer. His first aid kit was extended down from the ceiling. Clicking it open, he paused for a moment to survey Dib and tried to decide what to look at first. There was large gash slashing down the left side of his forehead and over his eyebrow, drizzling blood down into his eye and over his cheek. Both sockets of Dib's eyes were blackened, and his nose was sitting at an odd angle, his lips reddened by the split cracked down the bottom one. Zim didn't know what to address first. It looked like Dib had his face slammed into something hard and solid multiple times with brutal force.

Zim reached tentatively and turned Dib's head by his chin. When Dib grimaced, Zim noticed the dark ring of bruises around Dib's neck. They were hand-shaped. 

"Who did this to you?" Zim whispered, horrified.

To his surprise, Dib began to laugh, rough and caustic. "The same fucker who always does it," Dib choked out, laughter turning slightly hysterical. "Thought you would've figured it out by now, bug boy."

Reaching into his kit and pulling out the disinfectant, Zim began to wipe Dib's face clean of blood and dab at the cuts for germs. Zim's lips pursed. "If it is the same person who hurt your face last week as well, then should you not go to the Earth authorities? Zim knows that humans go to jail for this type of thing!"

Dib snorted, then winced. "They wouldn't fuckin' help. Nobody would."

"Zim would!" Zim replied sharply, not angry, but seemingly determined to get Dib to understand this time. 

"You--y-you'd help me?" Dib mumbled, head tipped to the side as he regarded Zim with a tired, curious gaze. He lifted his chin when Zim scrubbed at the tacky blood splattered down his neck from his mouth. "...I think 'm actually startin' to believe that, Zim," He said softly.

Zim's antennae perked up so fast that his wig moved, nearly uprooted by them. He finished cleaning up the blood and grabbed the jar of healing gel, unscrewing the lid and dabbing his claw tips into it. He reached up to smooth it gently over the gash in Dib's forehead. "Zim is glad."

Dib was quiet for a while, simply sitting still and staring at Zim while he applied the gel to his face and moved on to the bruise cream. It was only when Zim was rubbing it into his cheek and Dib spoke again. "I shouldn't've hit you." Zim paused. "Shouldn'ta hit you. You scared me."

"Scared you?" Zim asked, looking up to meet that smouldering amber gaze. They were almost the same shade as the liquid in the bottle still hanging from Dib's grasp. Possibly equally as poisonous.

"'M used to things that hurt," Dib said in lieu of an actual answer. "I don't like that you don't hurt me. Makes you unpredictable. An' I--I hate how _cheerful_ you are. The world's gone all to shit and here you are, prancing around like everything's fine and we've all got a right to be happy. 'S fuckin'--_bullshit_. But no matter how mean I am to you, you still...still do shit like this. Like you _care_ about me."

"I do care about you, Dib-bee," Zim responded earnestly, his hand now cupping Dib's cheek, the bruises beneath it already fading. He knew that Dib most likely wouldn't have been telling him all of that if he wasn't in so much pain, the scent of the fiery poison in the bottle on his breath, but Zim felt like Dib trusted him. Trusted him enough to divulge his emotions and logic, even if Dib didn't like it. His spooch felt warm, his cheeks slightly flushed as he smoothed his thumb beneath Dib's eye, feeling daring. "I love you."

"You love me," Dib repeated, like Zim had never said it before. Or, perhaps, like he had never _believed_ it before. 

There was a moment, strung out between two seconds that seemed to go on forever, where they simply stared at one another, Zim's hand still horribly gentle against Dib's cheek. Then Dib's chest heaved and he swooped forward to crash his lips against Zim's, breath shuddering out of him in a forceful gust, like he couldn't comprehend his own actions. 

Zim gasped, startled and stunned, and his spooch lept into his throat, cheeks flushing bright purple as his other hand flew to Dib's shoulder to ground himself. The bottle shattered against the floor as Dib's hand came up to cup the back of Zim's head, subsequently knocking Zim's wig off. Bloodied knuckles grazed his antennae and he whined, shivering violently. Dib tasted like death, with the slick of fermentation, the bitterness of burning plants, the metal of spilled blood--kissing Dib was like inhaling _devastation_.

But Irk if Zim wasn't instantly addicted.

Zim gripped Dib's coat sleeves as his balance tipped, but instead of righting himself, just managed to send both of them crashing to the floor. Yelping, Zim tried to scramble up only for Dib to flatten him back down, not deterred in the slightest. He took Zim's bottom lip between his teeth and sucked, nibbling just on the side of too hard. It made Zim's mouth buzz.

Shuddering, Zim leaned forward into the kiss once more, hungry. His hands slid up into Dib's hair, and he found that if he pulled, even slightly, Dib would let out the most _beautiful_ noise. Pulling back, Dib brushed his lips over Zim's jaw, down his neck, and bit savagely into the crook of Zim's shoulder. Zim cried out, arching his back at the sudden pain, only to be soothed over by a hot tongue following it, almost apologetic. 

"You love me?" Dib panted, sounding fragile and cracked--wild. 

Zim's voice had been stolen from him by the passion in Dib's actions, so he just gripped Dib's hair tightly and nodded, eager.

Pulling up, gaze half-lidded and unreadable, Dib let out a strange sound and gripped the hem of his own shirt. He tugged it halfway up and stopped before it could reveal more than a tan, toned stomach. He leveled Zim with a daring, feral look. "Then prove it."

Then the sweater was gone, the shirt was gone, and Zim only got a glimpse of gray before Dib was kissing him again, harder than before, sliding his tongue along the seam of Zim's lips like he was pleading to be let inside. Zim could do nothing but let him in, gasping as Dib slicked his tongue along Zim's own and brushed against one of his antennae. One hand, still bitten with chill, skated up under Zim's uniform to push it up, revealing a slim expanse of pale green skin to a hot, bronze gaze. Zim shivered, a chirp erupting from his chest as he swallowed.

He...wasn't quite sure what was happening. His entire body felt hot, and he could feel his channel opening in response, but he wasn't sure what he was supposed to _do_. Zim had never mated with anyone before. 

But it was clear that as his petals folded back beneath his leggings and his palpus grew animated, that was where this was headed. 

Zim found himself dizzy at the thought, cheeks flushed plum as Dib tugged down Zim's leggings until they rested awkwardly just below his posterior swell, petals fluttering in the open, exposed to Dib's lovely, piercing eyes. 

He blinked, a brief pause before he swooped back down with a whispered, "Fuck it."

Dib was apparently throwing caution to the wind--_booting it off a cliff_\--and just going with his instincts. He didn't seem to know what he was doing anymore than Zim did, the only difference between the two of them being the effect of such a strong swell of desire. Zim fell out of his mind, hazy. Dib had gone _feral_.

He hiked Zim up by his thighs, sliding back simultaneously until his face was settled in between Zim's legs, shallow breaths hot against the exposed petals. Zim shuddered and let out a shocked noise when Dib placed a wet, open-mouthed kiss on the top petal, flicking his tongue out to tease it up the sides. Holding Zim's legs apart at an awkward angle, his leggings dangling off one leg and his boots shoved half off, Dib made his way quickly down to the fluttering entrance and shoved his tongue inside. 

Zim cried out, heels kicking out against nothing, barely grazing against the floor as his toes curled. Oh, yes, this was perfect. If this was mating then he understood his Tallests' desires intimately, spooch tingling as Dib messily fucked his tongue into Zim's channel. 

Dib groaned lowly, reaching down to scrub the heel of his palm across the seam of his jeans as he ate into Zim like a beast, rose scented slick coating the bottom of his face and dribbling from the corners of his lips. He jolted slightly when Zim's palpus extended enough to wrap around the tip of his tongue, withdrawing slightly. Whining pitifully, Zim reached down, tangled his claws in Dib's hair, and yanked harshly, unthinking. A punched out moan escaped the human's lips, his hot breath panting against the twitching wetness of Zim's petals and making his palpus wriggle desperately inside of him. 

Dib pulled back entirely and Zim near sobbed, legs straining in his grip to try and wrap around Dib and pull him back in. "P-Please, Dib-bee, please--"

He choked off with a gurgle when Dib hooked a finger inside of him, surging up to crash his mouth against Zim's. The combination of the lethal taste of Dib himself and Zim's sugary, floral slick made his mouth water. Zim gasped into Dib's mouth as the human's finger prodded at his sheathed palpus, curling his fingertip around it in a lewd parody of a pinkie promise before pulling it out. It writhed and pulsed in the warm air between them, his celosia fluttering as it pushed up against Dib's toned abdomen.

Upon feeling it, Dib pulled back from their kiss, a thin string of saliva glowing pink between them. He'd bitten Zim's lip. Letting Zim's legs fall, Dib's eyes alighted on his wriggling organ and widened comically. 

"Holy _shit_, that's--so fuckin' weird," Dib breathed, blinking owlishly. Then he seemed to realize that Zim was looking at his own cock with bewilderment as well, as if he'd never seen it before. Which, he hadn't. Dib's eyes went hooded and dark, licking his lips. Zim shivered. "You said something about Irk--" Dib hiccuped. "I-Irkens reproducing asexually. Cloning." He leaned forward to loom over Zim, the rosy bracts of his celosia shuttering slightly when they brushed over the coarseness of dark jeans. "'S that mean that you're a _virgin_?"

"Dib-bee," Zim whimpered, already split lip caught between his teeth. He wasn't sure what he wanted, but he knew that whatever it was, he wanted it more than anything. He needed--something. Something only Dib could give to him. 

"Really?" Dib slurred with a smirk. "You're practically fuckin' ancient and yet you've never gotten it wet?" 

Zim's back arched and his toes curled as a calloused hand squeezed around the base of his length and slid slowly up, teasing. 

"A shame."

And then Dib was popping the button on his jeans and yanking them down, boxers and all. Face flushed, he tossed them away from him and straddled Zim's waist. Zim glanced down and caught sight of a very different set of genitals than he was expecting, just before Dib grasped his excitable palpus again and guided it none too gently towards him, tossing his head back with a hitched breath when it breached him. Wet heat enveloped Zim, clenching tightly around him as Dib seated himself entirely on his length, and Zim let out a high pitched keen, overwhelmed.

Dib cursed several times in quick succession, hands trembling as they planted themselves on Zim's chest to steady him. Dib shuddered and moaned when Zim's celosia pulsed within him, his small hips flexing upward on instinct. "Shit, Zim, hold on, h-hold on, hold--" He cut himself off with a breathless noise when Zim reached forward to grasp his narrow hips, claws breaking skin. "_Fuck_."

Zim barely refrained from rutting up into Dib like some sort of savage animal, something that his PAK normally kept at bay fizzing in his chest as he panted for breath, cheeks flushed a pretty mauve. Zim bit his tongue and felt an odd, rough sound rumble from within his chest. "D-Dib-love, please..."

"H-Holy _fuck_, bug, did you just--did you seriously just _growl_?" Dib stammered as his mind worked to retain his linguistics with both the poison in his system and the chemical cocktail of mating frying his inhibitions. The rumble came again, stronger, and it made Zim's teeth vibrate. "_Oh dios_," Dib breathed as he lifted himself back up and pushed his hips down again, making Zim writhe in torturous pleasure, antennae trembling as the smooth, odd language whispered against him. "_Eso es caliente._" 

"I love you," Zim crooned, voice cracking as Dib began to rock his hips harshly up and down, setting an almost punishing pace. "Zim loves you so much, Dib-bee. Always teaching Zim new things, always so beautiful. Zim wants to keep and love you forever," He babbled frantically as his hips made little aborted movements up into Dib's, matching him thrust for thrust. Dib's eyes went glassy, and he screwed them shut, teeth gritted as he arched his back into Zim.

Something hot and shadowed was building in his abdomen, and with it came that flicker of Bad that his PAK occasionally couldn't suppress. Like now. His PAK felt warm against his back, overworking itself trying to stifle him. 

Dib reached down to rub at a spot just above where Zim disappeared into him, raspy, addictive moans spilling from his lips in little "_ha, ahn, ngh!_"s, interspersed between unintelligible words that Zim could tell weren't English. The sight of Dib's debauched face, twisted in agonized, vulnerable pleasure, sent Zim sailing off a peak he didn't know he'd reached, sparks exploding behind his eyelids as he cried out, jolting his palpus up once more and feeling his celosia bloom out and lock them in place. 

Breath stuttering, Dib startled at the sensation and whipped his head down to look at Zim. He opened his mouth to speak, only to gasp and choke off into a shocked gurgle as something bulbous and spongy pushed through Zim's cock into him, abruptly followed by two more. They stretched him further than Zim had, filling him up and sending his orgasm crashing over him in a wave of painfully delicious. Voice breaking on a keen, Dib quickened the motions of his fingers until his entire body locked up, shaking with aftershocks.

The whole room smelled salty sweet, warmed by their shared body heat as they floated down from their respective highs, Zim's celosia slowly sealing back up as his palpus retreated from Dib's hot, quivering channel, overstimulated. A small puddle of viscous, red liquid followed it, which Zim vaguely recognized from his time in the smeetery as amniotic slick. 

Panting, trembling, and dazed, Dib pressed a shaky hand to his abdomen. "'The fuck did you put in me, bug?"

Floating on a sensation he'd never seen, Zim reached forward to press his hand against Dib's as well, as if he could feel them. He couldn't, of course. They were far too small. "My eggs. They should come out on their own, but I imagine it won't be comfortable."

Maybe Zim should apologize for putting them in without permission. But, strangely, he didn't feel like it. Why should he apologize when he'd obviously done nothing wrong?

His PAK was cold.

Dib wet his lips, bewildered. "S-So you just--you have _eggs_? God, I shoulda seen t-that one comin'." He tipped his head back and shuddered. "Oh fuck, _fuck_\--yeah, I can feel them...moving," He mumbled with a harsh swallow. Experimentally, he pushed his fingers deeper into his skin and jolted, eyes fluttering. 

A single, blood red sphere shoved itself out of Dib's entrance, slightly smaller than a tennis ball. It hit Zim's exposed abdomen with a wet smack and Dib groaned, leaning back on his haunches to try and relieve the pressure, subsequently giving Zim a clear view of the second egg exiting his body. Slick, pink flesh gave way for sparkling red, shielded by two rounded petals at the front with a small pelt of black fur above them, damp with their combined fluids. It made his spooch fizz and spark, and he couldn't help but stare, enamored with the sight. Reaching forward, he grasped Dib's hand and squeezed, guilt slowly creeping back into his chest as his PAK managed to boot its reserves back up.

"Zim should have asked. I am sorry, Dib-bee."

"I'm too fuckin' _borracho para esto_," Dib groaned, slurring between linguistics like his brain couldn't decide which one it should remember first. 

Zim reminded himself to download the pretty, smooth language into his PAK later. 

Dib grit his teeth and grunted, blush deepening for a moment as his hips gave an involuntary twitch and the last egg popped out, plopping to the floor and rolling a little ways away. With that, it seemed Dib's strength gave out entirely, because he collapsed backwards, chest heaving. 

Zim felt his palpus retract back into his body and his petals slowly close back up behind it, and he sat up to pull his leggings and boots all the way off so they wouldn't get any dirtier. Pulling off his tunic as well, Zim primly folded them and set them next to Dib's coat, the rest of his human's clothes having been strewn about the room. When Zim approached Dib again, he was surprised to see that he had passed out.

More than anything, Zim wanted to bask in this moment. He wanted to lay on his Dib-bee's chest and purr his contentment, bathing in the joyous warmth that came from Dib finally, _finally_ accepting his love. 

But there were other things he needed to address.

Such as Dib's bloodied knuckles and split lip, as well as the bruises around his neck. The old bandages around his chest would have been a concern as well, but Zim was (slowly but surely) catching on. Looking over his Dib-bee's body, he knew something was different about him. He wouldn't have known, though, had he not looked up what a healthy human male looked like on one of his previous desperate scrabbles to keep his human from accidentally killing himself. 

Dib-bee did not have a typical male body. It was more reminiscent of a human female. 

But Dib called himself a male. Everyone called him by masculine pronouns. Without baring his body and perhaps taking off the bandages, there would've been no way to tell that Dib did not have a male body. 

Zim was very, _very_ confused. 

Kneeling next to Dib and stroking his hair cautiously (Zim didn't want to startle him awake and end up on punched again), he sighed. Then, hooking his arms beneath Dib's shoulders and waist, Zim lifted the slumbering human and carted him into the room the computer had made for him while Zim had been gone. Zim laid Dib gently onto the pod, cleaned him up, and tucked him in. He pressed his lips to Dib's one last time, unable to resist, antennae shaking in delight.

Zim reluctantly pulled away after a moment, lips tingling. Humming softly, he stroked Dib's cheek. "I love you, Dib-bee. Zim loves you so much," He whispered, before forcefully ripping himself away and heading towards the lab.

He had a lot of work to do.

•💗•

When Zim returned to the surface of the base the next morning, Dib was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mentions of offscreen domestic abuse. The Prof. ain't nice and Dib shows up at Zim's house worse for wear. Then they have sex, but neither of them really talk about if the other wants it, and given that Dib's drunk and Zim's kinda clueless, it could be argued to be dubious consent. Also, Zim is an alien, so be prepared for a bit of weirdness in the dick area :)
> 
> I drew a thing for this chapter a while ago, and it IS nsfw, but if you wanna see me attempt to visualize this chap, the [link is here](https://twitter.com/Grim53455578/status/1217681255304744961?s=20).
> 
> aLSO THIS CHAPTER IS TWICE AS LONG AS THE OTHERS BUT WYGD


	6. Detention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> By Melanie Martinez

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for slurs and a lil' bit of bigotry. At this point Dib is his own warning.

Dib was waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

The Prof. hadn't come hunting after him to make sure he didn't tarnish the ML reputation, which was not only odd, but unheard of. But--and this was the kicker--Dib had sex last night. He had sex with _Zim_. 

And Dib could admit that he wasn't a good person, in any definition of the word (because being a good person ultimately meant fucking _nothing_ if all it got you was more pain--if everyone else was going to fuck you over, you fucked them over first or the world _stomped on you_) but this was just pathetic. Running to an alien like a damsel in distress when Dib had definitely been through worse? Immediately coming on to said alien once he'd told Dib he loved him? And then, not only refusing to discuss it afterwards like a rational human being, but _bolting_ like a startled deer the first chance he got?

'_Real classy, Dib. You weak ass bitch._'

Dib clenched his jaw and made his way to his calculus class with short, brisk steps, glowering venomously at anyone that dared to even breathe in his general direction. He was hungover, sore in obvious, humiliating places, and infuriatingly unsure. 

His only saving grace was the fact that Zim hadn't shown up to school. (That, and Keef had apparently replenished his supply of weed and would chill the fuck out for the next few weeks, so neither of them would be bothering Dib.)

_I don't like that you don't hurt me._

Dib snarled to himself and stormed into his calculus class, slinging himself in his seat and actually focusing on the teacher's words to distract himself from his brain. His fingers found his hips, pressing harshly into the gouges there. 

_Zim loves you so much, Dib-bee. Zim wants to keep and love you forever._

A tint of pink to his cheeks, Dib yanked his hand away from the wounds as if burned. They'd been the only thing left of his injuries from the night before when he'd woken up. 

Dib didn't want to examine that too closely.

There was the entire issue of the _other thing_ that Dib probably should have been anxious about as well, but given that Zim was an alien, he wasn't too worried about it. It's not like Zim would even know what it was supposed to look like anyway, and even if he did get curious, it's not like he would--

Dib froze.

Oh God. Oh _God_. Zim totally would look it up. It was _Zim_ of course he would fucking look it up! Maybe he wouldn't understand it? God, but they had diagrams and everything now, it would be fucking obvious! Or worse, he'd only understand a little bit, and think it was okay to ask Dib more questions about it.

Clutching at his hair and pulling viciously, Dib bit back a scream and prayed to any deity listening that Zim wouldn't come in today. Then Dib could go over to his base, threaten the bug into silence, and never worry about it again, awkwardness be damned. 

'_Fuck my hangups with last night, fuck the Prof. finding out--if that gets out he really **will** kill me_,' Dib thought in a hiss, pale. 

Jiggling his leg nervously, a scowl on his lips, Dib focused back on the lesson and tried to forget yesterday had happened at all. Calculus ended with the teacher forking over an entire packet of homework, and Dib marginally less freaked. He stuffed the packet carelessly into his backpack and swept out of the classroom towards his locker. Banging it open, he snagged his textbook and felt his hackles raise when a familiar chuckle reached his ears.

"So, who was it?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Dib snarled as he glared up at Torque, who was smirking at him from over the door of his locker. 

"Oh come on," Torque bemoaned dramatically, swooning back against the lockers. His eyes were shrewd. They clashed horribly with his shitty yellow sweater vest. "You've got that post-fuck regret vibe going on. Plus hella hangover, though that doesn't surprise me." He grinned. "Spill."

"Fuck off," Dib uttered bluntly, yanking the zippers of his bag roughly into place over the books. Nerves plucked at him again, but he swatted them away. 

"That whiskey did _wonders_ for your attitude, I see," Torque huffed in frustration. He leaned forward to grab the locker door before Dib could close it. "Come on, Membrane! I've been sneaking you booze for years! Aren't we friends?" He simpered.

Dib let out a dry laugh at that, sneering meanly. "Desperate, are you?"

Torque fussed with the bright pink scarf tied around his neck and averted his eyes. "Don't I deserve some gossip, then? Equal exchange?"

"Equal exchange is the twenty bucks I gave you last night. If you wanted to barter for favors instead, get yourself a stupider client. Now again, Smackey, _fuck off_." Dib slammed his locker shut and nearly caught Torque's fingers inside. Then he shoved past the taller boy towards his history class.

"I'm not some sort of drug dealer, you know!" Torque called irritably, pouting. When Dib didn't respond, he turned on heel and stalked off with a huff.

Dib clenched his jaw. Could he really tell? Could _everybody_ tell?

He shook his head with a grimace and stormed into his class, mood black and stormy once more. Glancing around--no Zim. But Dib was fairly early, as only Zita and Mrs. Bitters were present. Normally Dib dragged his feet on his way to class, just because he could, but Torque had gotten on his nerves. Made him flee.

Dib's fists clenched, nails biting harshly into his palms. 

_Weak._

He popped his headphones in and cranked the volume all the way up, razing any coherent thought from his mind. The classroom filled slowly, with Keef coming in almost dead last, eyes red and a dopey look on his face. He looked at no one, slinking into his seat and laying his head down with a slurred murmur of something most likely stupid. 

A minute or so before the bell rang, Zim stumbled into the classroom in slight disarray. Dib's entire being locked up, tension buzzing in his bones as Zim fluffed himself up and hurried over to him with an excited 'Dib-bee!'

Recoiling when Zim reached his desk, Dib nearly lept out of his skin when the alien pulled a thin, sparkly box from behind his back and put it on Dib's desk. He eyed the glittery silver wrappings and the big blue bow stuck carefully to the top, hackles raised as he jerked his headphones out and leaned away from Zim's enthusiasm. 

"I made you a present!"

"If it's another body part I'm going to throw you down the trash chute," Dib growled, determinedly keeping himself as far away from the present as possible.

"Oh no, silly! Of course not!" Zim chirped. Dib's eyes narrowed. Normally when that was brought up Zim faltered and flinched. He hadn't even blinked. At least he hadn't brought up last night. "Go on, open it!"

Dib hesitated a moment more, then, mindful of their classmates gazes and the ticking clock towards the bell, he grasped the edges of the wrapped lid and tugged it off. Nestled between baby blue tufts of tissue paper, was a folded, navy blue square of fabric. Confused, Dib tugged it out and unfolded it. 

The blood drained from his face.

Swiftly cramming the stiff fabric back into the box, Dib slammed the lid back on it with a hiss--but it was too late. Miranda piped up, nasal and mocking, "Is that a bra?"

"What the fuck, Zim?" Dib growled lowly, quiet enough that no one but Zim would hear, but deadly enough that it got Zim's attention. Dib's pulse was loud in his ears, heart beating rapidly against his ribcage. 

"Oh goodness no, of course not! It's not a bra, Dib-bee, I promise," Zim hastened to explain. Dib relaxed marginally as he felt the stares start to wane. "It's a binder!"

No.

_No_.

"The bandages you're using are very old, Dib-bee, and I thought you must not have one, so Zim made one for you!" Zim chirped, oblivious to their wide eyed classmates and Dib's mounting panic. "It's not very healthy to use bandages, and Zim didn't want you to end up breaking your ribs again on accident. You really shouldn't be binding that way, Dib-bee," he said with a hint of scolding in his tone, gloved claws on his hips. 

"What?" Came Miranda's shrill gasp.

"What's going on?" Another said.

"Oh my God, he's not!"

"What the hell's binding?"

"He _is_!"

The mutterings of their classmates got louder and louder until they rang in Dib's ears like church bells, high and damning. He could fix this. He could still fix this. Dib opened his mouth, prepared to spit out a cruel retort that would turn the crowd on Zim instead, when Keef lifted his head from his desk, high as a kite, and slurred loudly, "Dib is trans?"

Fuck.

FUCK. 

This wasn't happening. This could _not_ be happening.

Zim seemed to finally realize something was wrong. His face fell and his brow creased in concern. "I-Is something wrong? Do you not like it?"

"Membrane's a tranny?"

"Holy shit!"

"No way, we would've been able to tell before now."

"Nah, now that I'm looking..."

Everyone jumped as metal screeched across tile in time with the late bell. Dib had shot to his feet, fists clenched and sent his chair flying backwards. Before he could think better of it--or _at all_\--Dib turned and shoved past Zim, bolting for the door and fleeing the classroom entirely.

He sprinted down the hall and crashed through the doors to one of the courtyards, gasping in a breath as his back hit the rough brick of the outer wall and slowly slid down it. He ended up sitting crouched between two bushes, head between his knees as he fought viciously for air where there was none. 

There was that other shoe.

The Prof. was going to kill him. 

•🥀•

It took the final bell ringing to drag Dib out of his stupor, uncurling from his ball of self-pity to shake mulch from his coat and sweep hurriedly out of the building through the courtyard doors. Gaz was probably pissed that he wasn't the first one out the door like always. She might've even keyed Dib's dingy little Saturn if she didn't think he'd make her take the bus instead. 

He glowered his way through the crowded sidewalk as he made a beeline for the parking lot, only to be stopped by a hand on his arm. Wrenching himself away and whirling to snarl at whoever _dared_ touch him, he was surprised to see Jessica, notorious school nerd, holding his elbow. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail, streaked with blue, and she tossed it over her shoulder and lifted her chin at him. Dib hadn't ever spoken to her before--they didn't have any classes together, so he didn't have to. He tried to stay away from her in general; her 'not like other girls' schtick was as irritating as it was cliche. 

Before he could snap at her, she said, "Go to Prom with me."

"Why the hell should I?" Dib spat back, raising an eyebrow. Not what he was expecting, especially not from her, but just as unwelcome.

Jessica smirked and batted her lashes at him over her glasses. "I heard you rejected Gretchen. Not surprising--a basic bitch like her obviously wouldn't be to your tastes."

The _nerve_ of this bitch.

"And you think you are, Braces?" Dib drawled, eyes cutting.

Jessica flushed and scowled. She crossed her arms. "Look, you've got a front you want to keep up, or you wouldn't have made Gretchen cry." Dib snorted. Jessica powered on with narrow eyes. "And so do I! It makes sense for us to go together."

Rolling his eyes, Dib yanked his arm back out of her grip. "I couldn't give a shit less about my reputation. Nice to see you've given up that 'dyed hair don't care' facade, though."

"Are you going to go to Prom with me or not?" Jessica snapped. Dib could see her fingers twitch, as if she was resisting the urge to check her hair. 

Scoffing, Dib tipped his head back in exasperation, then lolled it back down, fully prepared to crush Jessica's hopes and dreams in one fell swoop. He paused. Zim was standing a little ways away, hands folded together in front of him, holding Dib's bookbag as he waited and looking at them with wide, pregnable eyes. Rage, white-hot and thick, sloughed through Dib's chest. If he'd had fangs, they would've been extended, bared to bite. In that moment, he _hated_ Zim. 

Hated him because even as Dib built himself up like a predator, Zim made him feel like prey. 

'_You ruined **everything**_.'

Dib felt a slow, honeyed grin take his lips. He folded his hands behind his back and leaned down a little closer to Jessica's height. He touched her cheek gently, and she blinked in bewilderment. "I'd love to go to Prom with you. Be ready to make the preparations."

He looked up in time to see Zim's face crumble, and he faintly heard Jessica say, "What? Why did you--_oh_." over the roar of malicious satisfaction in his ears. Then he spun and began to stalk towards his car again, leaving Jessica standing stunned on the sidewalk. 

There was a yelp, then the pitter patter of booted feet scrambling after him. Gaz was leaning on the hood of his car, bat crossed over her shoulders, and she deigned to crack open an eye to raise an eyebrow at the sight of them approaching.

"W-Wait, Dib-bee, please wait!" 

Dib reached his car, stopped and whirled around just in time for Zim to reach him. He planted his shoe into the alien's stomach, sending Zim crashing to the ground with a cry. Dib snatched his bag back and snarled as Zim clutched his middle and teared up. 

"Dib-bee, I thought--last night--" Zim stammered out, before Dib interrupted.

"You thought _wrong_," Dib hissed, clenching his fists and looming over Zim like an avenging demon. "Last night was a _mistake_. It didn't mean anything."

"No..." Zim's lip wobbled. "No! It meant something! Zim knows it did!"

"How so?" Dib replied smoothly, cruelty icing over his rage to pave the way for sadism. "Because you love me? Some love that is." Zim flinched. Dib went on, ruthless. "You don't know what you just did to me, do you? Clueless Zim, fucking everything up, just like always! Oh, but it's fine, he _loves_ you. Isn't that great?"

"I--"

"Well guess what, Zim? I don't love you. I will _never_ love you. And if you come near me again, I'm going to kill you. That antenna is going to look like child's play compared to what I'll do to you. So stay the hell away from me."

With that, Dib turned on heel and slung himself into the car. He cranked it up and kept his eyes on the wheel as Gaz slowly rounded the car and got in herself. She didn't say anything, but her Game Slave stayed in its bag. 

Zim clambered to his feet and ran up to the car, clawing at the window as tears spilled over his falsely blue eyes. "No, _no_\--Dib-love, please! Please just tell me what I did wrong. Don't leave, Dib--DON'T LEAVE!" 

Dib thrust the car in drive and jerked out of the parking space, sending Zim flat on his face as he cried and shrieked after him. He peeled out into the road and didn't look back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops :'3


	7. It Will Come Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> By Hozier

Zim stumbled into his base, eyes puffy and hot as he shut the door softly behind him. His cheek was a little scraped up from falling in the parking lot, but it was nothing compared to the roiling pit of _hurt_ that had settled in his chest, the gentle cresting waves of endorphins his PAK supplied doing absolutely nothing against it. Zim took off his disguise and sniffled, rubbing one hand beneath his eyes to swipe away the tears there. 

"**Incoming transmission. Put it through?**"

Zim held his jacket to his chest and stared miserably at the floor. "Yes please, Computer."

The television screen flickered to life, sending a mirage of colors across the floor around Zim's feet. He wasn't sure who could've been calling him, but he wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone right now. His oculars teared up again, and a heavy, choking feeling rose up in his throat. 

"Hello, Zim! How is--oh. Oh dear. Red! Red, get in here!" 

"M-My Tallest?" Zim stuttered out as his head shot up to look at the screen, eyes wide. Tallest Purple was looking at him with a faintly alarmed expression, and Tallest Red appeared over his shoulder a moment later, brow furrowed until he caught sight of Zim. 

"He's leaking," Purple spluttered frantically, gesturing at Zim with worried eyes. "Why is he leaking? Red, why--"

"What happened, Zim?" Red asked softly, clasping Purple's hand to calm him down as he focused on Zim. "Why are you upset?"

Underneath the weight of his Tallests' gazes and their combined concern, Zim felt his composure crack as all the hurt of the day welled up and crested over him once more, face scrunching up as tears spilled faster down his cheeks. Zim began to sob in earnest, much to Tallest Purple's dismay. "Oh, my Tallest, Zim messed up! Zim made a mistake and now everything is _ruined_!" He wailed. Red and Purple glanced at each other with wide eyes. Fisting his claws to rub at his eyes so he could see, Zim hiccupped. "I thought I was doing something nice! But then he--he...he just gets so _upset_ with me and I never know _why_!"

Tallest Red relaxed ever so slightly. His brow furrowed, antennae twitching. "He? Who has you so distressed?"

Zim sniffled and flushed slightly beneath his miserable expression. "The D-Dib. Zim knows that I could help him, but he never lets me! Or, whenever Zim _does_ help him, it ends...badly. But he is so _sad_ and _angry_, all the time, and if I cannot make even one human happy then how is Zim meant to change the entire Earth for the better--?"

"A human?" Purple interrupted in surprise. Red elbowed him lightly, chiding, and he grunted and threw his fellow Tallest a betrayed look. "How has this human upset you so badly?"

Zim reached up to grasp his antennae and yank with a cry of anguish, the left one twinging slightly at the abuse. He released it immediately. There were so many answers to that question. So, so many times when Dib had hurt him. But Zim knew Dib didn't mean to--even...even if he had today. He had looked Zim straight in the eyes with a hatred so strong that it made his spooch quiver as he verbally stomped all over Zim's affections. But Zim had done something wrong! He had done something wrong before, and his Dib-bee had looked so _afraid_, smelled like a factory fire as he fled the classroom only to reemerge later looking like a hulking, vicious animal.

"I love him, my Tallest," Zim rasped out at last, pained. "But he does not love me back. He said he would _never_ love me back, and right after I--right after we--and then he just touches that girl and _says_\--" Zim cut himself off with a ragged shout as his PAK clicked rapidly, filling the tense air with its ticking. The sound made both his Tallests pale dramatically. That prickly, black thing that surfaced briefly last night began to seep back into his bones as his PAK tried and failed to keep up with the chemical cocktail of his emotions, the influx of false hormones not enough to quell it. A snarl curled Zim's lips, involuntary. "He's _mine_! We mated and he's mine and if anyone thinks they're going to steal him then Zim will TEAR HER HAIR OUT--"

"Zim!" Red barked sharply, snapping Zim from his tantrum just in time for his PAK's chemical supply to refill, flooding him with a boneless sort of demurity. Zim nearly collapsed to the floor beneath the onslaught of it, abruptly very, very tired. "Kindness is Care."

"O-Of course, my Tallest. I do not know what came over me." Zim pressed a hand to his temple and winced. His tears had slowed and were now drying on his cheeks, sticky and slightly acrid. "Kindness is Care. Zim knows, Zim would never hurt anyone! Not...not on purpose," he murmured as he recalled Dib flinching away from him several times, wary. 

"We know, Zim," Tallest Purple replied softly, still a bit paler than normal. 

Tallest Red tipped his head and his face smoothed over slightly. "So this human, you said you love him? That you...mated with him?"

Zim blushed faintly and wrung his hands. "Yes, my Tallest. It was a very spur of the moment decision but then--then today I tried to give him a courting gift and he rejected me," Zim responded meekly, despondent. "Zim's courting gift was so awful that it drove him to court another human, right in front of me!" Zim cried, wanting to pull on his antennae again, but not daring to after his momentary lapse. "I do not know what I'm doing wrong! I don't even know why my gift was so terrible! I love him so much but he _hates_ me. What do I do, my Tallest?"

Tallest Purple's antennae twitched curiously, and he replied, "Get more extravagant gifts!" before Red clapped a hand over his mouth.

Pinching between his oculars, Red sighed and shook his head. "Zim, it sounds like you need to leave the human be for the time being. We will be able to help you better in a cycle or so, but in the meantime why don't you just focus on taking care of Biz? Your human can't stay angry forever, so just give him some time to...process, everything." Scarlet eyes glanced at Purple warningly when he opened his mouth and licked Red's palm petulantly. "Biz is your top priority, Zim. Give Biz the full of your heart for now, and we will see what to do about your human at a later date. Okay?"

Zim drew in a shuddering breath and nodded solemnly. "Yes, my Tallest. Zim understands perfectly."

Tallest Red looked doubtful, but Tallest Purple pulled the crimson gauntlet away from his mouth and chirped, "Goodbye, Zim, we love you! Tell Biz we said hello!"

Giving Purple a watery smile, Zim saluted with a determined expression. "Will do, my Tallest! Zim loves you as well!"

Red huffed and gave a tired smile. "See you, Zim."

"Probably sooner than you think!" Purple managed to croon before the transmission was ended. 

•🥀•

"...Do you wanna talk about it?"

"No." Dib replied stiffly.

Gaz shrugged after a moment and pulled out her switch. "Alright then."

He pulled up to the curb, parked, and cut the car off. "The Prof.'s at the Labs until seven. We'll have dinner at six. I'm calling in pizza."

She hummed in acknowledgement, not looking up as Dib strode ahead of her, spinning his keys around his finger. He unlocked the door and shoved the door open, not bothering to shut it behind him as he stuffed his keys back in his pocket and swept upstairs. 

He entered his room (it felt like forever since he'd had to sleep here) and slung his bag to the side. It spun and toppled over, half his shit tumbling out onto the ground. Dib swore.

A sparkle of silver and blue caught his eye, and he whipped his head around to see that stupid wrapping paper peeking out of his bag. Narrowing his eyes at it, Dib stalked over to it and wrenched the present out of the pocket, fully prepared to fling it into the trash, when he stopped. His fingers dug into the box, lips pursed as his nails tore through the pristine wrappings. 

He should throw it away. Who knew what Zim had designed in his misguided attempt to...what? What had he been trying to do? Dib should toss the whole package and take a nap while he knew the Prof. was out of the house. He should throw it away. 

"_Maldición_," Dib hissed as he ripped the lid off and pulled the binder from the fluffy tissue paper. He chucked the rest of the box at his waste basket and sat heavily down on his bed. 

Blue and gold fabric shimmered temptingly up at him. Now that Dib had a chance to really examine it, he saw that it was made some sort of silky yet buoyant cloth, metallic stitching at the sides that depicted crescent moons and twinkling stars. Had Zim hand-sewn them? He flipped the binder over to see a corset-esque busk with black lacings carefully crafted between clusters of lovingly rendered planets and constellations. A certain length away from the clasps, Zim had marked a red line across each of the lacings.

Something thick and gray clogged up Dib's chest and made the back of his throat burn. He rubbed his thumb across the soft fabric and swallowed hard. 

Maybe he could try it on. Just once. Before he threw it away. He had never had a real one, after all. It would satiate his curiosity. 

Standing before he fully realized what he was doing, Dib swept into his bathroom and locked the door behind him. It was pristine, with small hotel bottles of soap set at the edge of the bath and a bleach white rug set in front of both it and the shower on the other side of the room. The huge mirror in hung before the double sink always unnerved Dib, so he normally used the hall bathroom instead. If he was home long enough to have the need, of course.

Dib set the binder on the sink counter and stepped back. He shrugged his trenchcoat off, only to pause and hesitate before slipping his glasses off his face to set them beside the binder. 

Hastily tugging his sweater over his head and grimacing at the floral scent still lingering on it, Dib tossed it to the floor and smoothed a shaky hand across the rough, grayed gauze over his chest. His fingertips grazed the two, welted, ugly scars just above it and he flinched. His other hand came up and caught on the edge of the bandages, clawing it free before he could second guess himself and unwinding the tattered, dirty things from his chest. Immediately, he could breathe easier, and with his glasses safely on the counter, he couldn't see much beyond the blurry colors of his own hands as the last of the bandages fell in a stained heap at his feet. Wincing at the twinge of his ribs, but knowing it could've been worse (and it had been for quite a while), Dib clawed flakes of blood off his clavicle and grabbed the binder from the counter.

God he needed a shower.

He handled it more gently than he'd handled anything in his entire life, loosening the lacings and slipping it over his head to wrangle his arms through the thin sleeves. Settling the fabric carefully over his chest, Dib reached back and fumbled for the lacings. Cursing softly when he failed to grab them, he spun so his back was to the mirror and he could see the faint outline of the strings dangling along his spine. Taking them carefully in hand, he tightened and tied the bottom one, then went up from there until he could clip the silver clasp at the top of it together. 

His lungs had tightened back up, but it was far less of a strangle hold than Dib was used to. Turning back to the mirror and slipping his glasses back on, he straightened up and smoothed a hand over the front of his chest. The stitched stars at the seams glimmered in the sterile light, and while the plane of his torso wasn't as flat as he was used to, it didn't hurt nearly as much as the bandages. In fact, it didn't hurt at all. It was tight, and slightly hard to breathe, but at least he could _move_ without feeling like he'd break in half. It was...odd. And slightly unnerving.

_I don't like that you don't hurt me._

Dib ran a hand through his hair and pulled viciously, sneering at himself. "What, a literal alien time bomb is nice to you and suddenly you can't handle a little pain?" He shook his head and ran his tongue along his bottom lip, frazzled. "That's the only thing we've got going for us now, Membrane--pain tolerance and booze. That's _it_."

_Zim loves you, Dib-bee._

Snarling to himself, Dib ripped himself away from the sink and the mirror, slamming his fist into the door and making it splinter. His knuckles burst and began to ache, and he pressed his fists against the door and leaned his forehead against it with a hiss. "Fucking Zim."

The Irken was confusing as all hell. Dib needed to stay the hell away from him, but Zim just kept chasing after him and poking his antennae into Dib's business and asking prying questions with those stupid, pretty pink bug eyes of his and just generally being a huge nuisance. He always managed to make Dib feel like _he_ was the one set for the dissection table, wriggling behind Dib's walls and picking apart his emotions. Zim was infuriating and Dib _hated_ him.

The claw marks on his hips twinged. 

A heavy breath gusted out of Dib's lips, furious. One problem of many.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *slaps Dib on the head* This thing can fit so many repressed emotions in him

**Author's Note:**

> So here we are, the culmination of all the tropes I've wanted to jump on rolled into one amalgam of clusterfuck. Have fun reading!


End file.
